Grayson County is quickly growing diverse in agriculture practices. Increasing age, new farmers, new landownership, input costs, etc. have made people step away from the traditional cattle, hay and crop production we are used to seeing. One of the fastest growing production practices is small ruminants, specifically hair sheep. Based on the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture, Grayson County ranks 36^th in the state in small ruminant production, with around $100,000 in gross sales each year. Many of the farms in the county are small in size and have less than 50 head. With new practices comes new questions and opportunities for education and demonstration. The Grayson County Agriculture and Natural Resources agent, developed a quarterly Small Ruminant Program that is geared toward specific topics related to the production systems. The topics are decided by the participants each month and are usually timely. The ANR agent partners with the Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development office, the Ky Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky State University to utilize their resources and expertise.

Program Topics so far have been Parasite Management, Lambing/Kidding, and Marketing. Dr. Jessie Lay, DVM for Kentucky State University spoke about the parasite management and did a fecal egg count demonstration. There were 10 participants. Twelve participants attended the lambing and kidding program, and eight people attended the Marketing program with Mr. Jason Wachter, KDA small ruminant grader. Based on the responses from the group, the fall program will be a brand new sheep quality assurance training for sheep producers to use as another marketing aspect for their operation. The goal is to continue to provide information and education for these producers based on their needs, and hope to increase small ruminant production in the county.